What I Did on My Summer Vacation - Part I

I feel human again. I just took my first days off since October 1st 2004.

I went to a medical conference, ENDO '05, put on by The Endocrine Society. It was in San Diego this year. It's a really neat conference, and very unusual in that it is not all physicians there. About half of the members and attendees are physicians; the other half are Ph.D.'s and others involved in basic science research into areas of physiology, cellular biology, biochemistry, pharmacology pertaining to the medical specialty of Endocrinology. It is really fascinating to see things discussed on a basic science level later be the focus of clinical research and later still have senior physicians-in-practice discuss their role in therapy. There was a huge amount of new material, since with my almost-deployment 2 years ago, and moving into the new house 1 year ago, I haven't been to this conference since 2002.

And it's great fun to catch up with old friends. Although I don't know a large number of the 8,000+ attendees at the meeting, I am part of a "society within the society" - current and former military Endocrinologists. And I do know most of them from my work with the "Society of Uniformed Endocrinologists" (SUE) while I was still on active duty. We had a dinner together at a Spanish restaurant Sunday night and that was a blast. There was hardly a seminar in the 4 days of the conference where I didn't see someone I knew.

San Diego was a neat place for the conference, even if I didn't get out much. I stayed at a Comfort Inn in the Gaslamp Quarter, and walked to and from the conference every day except once when there was a dinner presentation that let out about 10PM (after dark). Yes, it's a very nice part of town, but I don't walk alone after dark anywhere. Part of what made it great though, was that the hotel was only a few blocks from a Ralph's (Cali grocery chain) with a great selection of prepared foods, so nights I didn't have a dinner to go, I just got something there. I also got 2 12-packs of Diet Cokes the first evening I was there, and a couple of freezer packs, and since I had a fridge in the room (something the $200+ a night places assume you don't need) I always had plenty of Diet Cokes to take to the conference and never had to pay $2.50 for a Diet Coke at the convention center.

You would think that being surrounded by so many super smart people, everyone would know how to put their cell phones on vibrate, or better yet to off, while speakers were presenting their research. But nooooooooooo. Despite signs throughout the conference center advising people to turn put thier cell phones to vibrate, despite slides on the screens as you walked into meeting rooms, despite common courtesy/common sense, I don't think 15 minutes went by without some idiot having their cell phone go off.

Also, if your travels plans include airline travel between the east/central US and the West Coast, and you have the option of changing planes at Las Vegas or elsewhere, go elsewhere. Even if "elsewhere" is in China. My plane from Amarillo took off 2 1/2 hours late because there was no runway available until 2 1/2 hours after our scheduled arrival time due to construction going on there. Fortunately, my connecting plane was delayed by a similar amount of time, so no problems there. But avoid Las Vegas as a connecting center. If you are flying in or out of Vegas, travel as early in the day as possible to avoid serious delays.

All in all, I had a good time, learned lots about some new therapies, updated strategies for some common vexing problems, and feel recharged. I've got some other time off coming up, and will be getting some playtime in then.